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Growing up, I had heard about the Autobahn. The place where fast cars got to go fast. No speed limit. For someone who enjoys driving fast, it sounds like a dream world. When I learned to drive, the speed limit was only 55 mph, and that seemed slow to me (and to Sammy Hagar too!) But a place where there isn’t a speed limit? Sounds like somewhere I would like to go.

I got my chance while we lived in France. Our church was a part of a convention of churches from around Europe. Each year we would have an annual meeting somewhere. One year it was outside Venice, Italy.

Me and Jen in Venice

One year the meeting was in Frankfurt. Our pastor, music pastor, Jen and I drove from Paris to Frankfurt for the meetings. While we were there, I was invited by a friend of mine to come and visit his youth group in Kaiserslautern. This was more or less an hour drive. I drove over by myself, following my friend. It was raining and he didn’t drive too fast.

But after the youth group, I got to drive back to Frankfurt on my own. Here was my opportunity. I get to drive on the autobahn all by myself! Oh…how excited I was. I couldn’t wait to get my chance to drive fast! Now, at this point you might be asking what sweet driving machine I was behind the wheel of. If I made a list of 100 cars that I would want to drive on the autobahn, the car I was in wouldn’t have even made the list. It was an Opel Vectra. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Opel, it is a German company that was owned by GM until 2009. They have been making cars since 1899. But really, they are not exciting cars.

But this was the car that I had to drive, so I was going to see what it could do. In the car’s defense, it was a well-built car that had been maintained very well. So it was a safe car. But how fast would she go? I had no idea, but I had a goal in mind. 200 KPH (124.27 MPH for those who don’t want to convert this in their head). If I could hit 200 kph, I would feel that I had really accomplished something.

What I needed to find a good long stretch of road that would allow my non-super car to get up to this speed. Add in the challenge of other cars and I was going to have to pick my spot well. When driving in Germany, you have to watch your mirrors for the faster cars coming up behind you. If they flash their headlights at you, you should move over very quickly. As I was making my assault on 200 kph, I had to get over a few times to let people pass. This slowed me down a bit, but didn’t deter me at all.

I pushed that little car and I was able to not only hit 200 kph, but go over it slightly. My heart was thumping so loud and the adrenaline was pumping. I was loving life. And, to my amazement, even at 200 kph I had cars passing me! I didn’t stay driving that fast for long. I slowed down to 135 KPH…which is the smarter speed to drive. While it is true that there isn’t a speed limit on the autobahn, what you don’t hear is that many insurance policies don’t cover you if you are driving over 135 KPH. So if you get in a wreck going over 135 KPH, you are liable for any damages

I would have to say that driving on the autobahn was a blast…when I was going 200 KPH. When I wasn’t, it really was just like driving on any other freeway…well, except for the fact that all of the signs are in German and I never did figure out where the heck Ausfahrt was.

Here is a little introduction to who I am, starting with my family. I have a wonderful wife (Jen), a five year old daughter who was born in Paris (Princess), a three year old daughter (who loves to eat, go barefoot, and is cute…Hobbit), and my year and half old son (Little Man). We currently live in Tacoma, Wash. where I am looking for a job.

A little background from me. My name is Paul and I was raised in what I refer to as God’s country, Spokane, Wash. I went to the same small school from first grade through high school. I then went to college at Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Ore. (which then changed to Multnomah Bible College and now is Multnomah University). After working for the school for a couple years after graduating, I started my first ministry job which only lasted for 5 months (more on that later). I ended up in Spokane until 2000 when I moved to Olympia, Wash. It was there that I met Jen and after getting married, we eventually moved to Paris for three years (yes, that Paris in France). We moved to Tacoma in 2006 and have been here since.

I love my family, God, the Mariners, the Seahawks, and telling stories. Since I worked with youth since I graduated high school, I had many opportunities to create some great stories and to share great stories. One of the things which I hope to do through this blog is share some of my experiences and small adventures.

Here is the strangest interview that I have ever had. It was at a church that I had attended previously for a couple years and I knew the pastor well. The interview started with everyone getting some pizza and sitting around a few large tables. There was a little chit chat and then the head of the search committee said, “Okay, let’s get started. Jeanie, you are up first.” From here on out, it was rapid fire questions. No problem, I was ready to answer lots of questions.

What I wasn’t ready for was the complete lack of nonverbal communication. I would answer a question and look around to see if people were tracking with me. When I didn’t get any affirmation of understanding, I did what I would do with junior high and high school students, I rephrased my answer. After a few of these type of answers. Jen starts kicking me under the table. I give her a look wondering why she keeps kicking me. Eventually, I get the point and stop repeating myself. The interview ends with the head of the search committee telling me that he will be in touch with me in the next week or so. The pastor walks us out to the car and we drive home.

When we get in the car, we look at each other and ask each other, “What in the world just happened?” I had never before talked to a group that looked at me with stone faces like they had. We quickly decided that this wasn’t the place for us. I waited for the head of the committee to call me so I could tell him that we weren’t interested.

But I never got a call. Since they had agreed to pay for our gas, so I had a good excuse to call them and find out. So I call and leave him a message. After almost a month after we interviewed, I finally hear from him. He says that they are talking exclusively with another candidate. Thanks for telling us!

An interesting part of this is that it was Jen’s former youth pastor that they were talking to. He ended up going there and left after a short time. I truly believe that God saved us from having to go to this church. And it opened the door for us to go to Paris. God is good!